I’ve been working on this for well over a year thanks to a dream I had one night. The prologue below is the beginning to a futuristic novel set in 2037 of a post apocalyptic society. You can call it science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction. To me, it is a fiction story using elements of myth as well as realistic threats to the future of humanity. It prays upon our fear of society falling a part, but eventually shows how people can find love even in the most extreme situations.

Without further hesitation, here is the prologue to my work in progress. Please feel free to give comments and criticisms.

Prologue

In 2037, the world feels alien compared to what it was a few decades ago. Scientists believe that long term exposure to radiation started it all. It took decades for the radiation to change the genetics of humans. Our superiority made us ignorant to how much was changing underneath our skin. Humanity thought it was indestructible. Top of the food chain. King of the jungle. That ignorance would be the downfall of the human race.

Since the creation of the atomic bomb and multiple nuclear disasters (Chernobyl 1986, Three Mile Island 1979, Japan 1999, 2011) humans have been exposed to ionized radiation on a massive scale. More devastating than X-Rays and cell phones, nuclear power became a weapon beyond simply destroying life. Those that died were mourned, but we neglected to step back and look at the big picture. We focused on curing the individuals with the most radiation levels. Doctors were certain that there was no prolonged effect besides the increased possibility of cancer. Researchers created a safe level of radiation that could exist in humans that they guaranteed it would not be harmful to have some radiation in us.

They were all wrong. What they didn’t know is that the radiation was still working inside people’s bodies. It removes electrons from molecules, which can create terrible effects on the human body. There is typically a low white blood cell count in those with radiation illnesses. Blood transfusions were a common treatment to those exposed. It helped to replace the affected cells. The point is that radiation changes your cells. All of the known symptoms were being treated, but there was one that remained dormant.

People never imagined that radiation would change our genetics. It was only until 2021 that the final symptom began to show. At first, it was just one or two people out of billions. They were deemed insane and locked up. No one thought there was a biological reason for them to eat people and drink their blood. It was the genetics no one bothered to study.

I definitely like this prologue. It’s much easier for the reader to get interested an involved without being too overwhelmed with the science all at once – which I think is especially important for you to consider, since you intend to write about vampires. To me, that means people purely interested in another vampire story could pick this up, and you don’t want to turn them off early on. This is much more inviting!

Thanks! I’m glad you enjoy it. I’m still working on the first chapter and I’m redoing the scene with the baby, but hopefully it will turn out well 🙂 I’m working on the whole as you know, Bob thing. I’m so excited that you like my story 🙂